Berkeley Springs could find three-peat tough

May 9, 2013

Repetition can be a good thing, the Berkeley Springs girls track team knows.

For two straight years, the Indians needed a particular finish in the 4x400-meter relay - the final event - to win a Class AA state championship.

The Indians got the needed effort both times, winning their first title in 2011 and then repeating in 2012.

A trek toward a third straight title begins today during Region II competition at Keyser.

It will be tough.

First off, the region has added a pair of former Class AAA members - Bridgeport and Robert C. Byrd - which should make qualifying in one of the first three positions in each event even more difficult. Notably, Bridgeport is the second-ranked team in RunWV.com's power rankings, a spot behind regional entrant Frankfort.

Six of the top 10 teams in the rankings come from Region II, including Berkeley Springs, which is tied for 10th.

Next, the Indians no longer have the firepower of the past two seasons in the field events.

The Indians built leads in the state meet in the field, winning a bevy of firsts and sometimes taking the top two spots to put 18 points toward their team total.

Berkeley Springs just has two athletes ranked among the top 10 in the field, based on their performances this season. Casey Solomon is in a six-way tie for sixth in the high jump and Sara Haynes is in a two-way tie for third in the pole vault, with a pair of regional foes ranking first and second.

There's not a whole lot of other ranked individuals either.

Freshman Ashley Griffin is tied for ninth in the 200-meter run, Danielle Haynes is sixth in the 800 while Kinsey Reed is ninth in the 1,600 and eighth in the 3,200.

In the relays, Berkeley Springs is 10th in the 4x200, sixth in the 4x400 and fifth in the 4x800.

As the Indians know, though, nothing on paper is guaranteed. They proved that in the last two years in the 4x400 to clinch state championships.

Meanwhile, the Berkeley Springs boys have four ranked individuals, two of them in the pole vault (Matt Arrowood, tied for third) and Trevor Jamison (10th).

The others ranked are Dylan Reynolds (tied for eighth in the 100) and Corey Shetler (fourth in the 800).